REGION — Two bills are making their way through the California Legislature in an attempt to protect the state’s coast from the Trump administration’s proposal to expand offshore drilling.

Through a draft proposal issued on Jan. 4, the U.S. Department of the Interior expressed its intention to open up more than 90 percent of the nation’s outer continental shelf to new offshore-oil and gas-drilling leases. The purpose would be to attain “energy dominance,” as stated in the proposal.

Rolling Hills Estates annual Mayor’s Ride drew 80 equestrians in celebration of  the city’s horsemanship heritage. The morning began with a meet and greet in Chandler Park at City Hall, followed by a 45 minute ride over the city trails, and ended with the annual Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast at Ernie Howlett Park. At the breakfast Mayor Britt Huff introduced local dignitaries and Boy Scout leaders, including State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, Rolling Hills Mayor Pat Wilson, PVE Mayor Betty Linn Peterson, and RPV Councilman Eric Alegria.

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) introduced this week House Resolution 117, which would create the Plug-In Electric Vehicle (EV) Driver Bill of Rights in California.

“In California, we are proud to support the use of EVs,” Muratsuchi said. “California continues to lead the way in environmental protection, and EVs play an important role in meeting our greenhouse gas reduction goals by helping to improve air quality and keeping the environment clean for all Californians.”

Roughly 400 people took to the intersection of Artesia and Hawthorne Boulevard Saturday morning, joining a nationwide protest against zero-tolerance federal immigration practices that have led to the separation of children from families.

Protestors stood at each corner, and along each median, waving signs, chanting, and cheering when supporters (whether from cars or LA Metro buses) passed by, sounding their horns.

This spring, the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) engaged in a comprehensive review of our budget. Our goal was to identify our educational priorities and then find ways to realign the budget in order to direct more funding to employee salaries, which are about 10 percent less than the county average.

For an area within a stone’s throw of busy Inglewood Boulevard and 190th Street, the neighborhood that surrounds Redondo Beach’s Franklin Park is quiet, even on a Saturday afternoon.

Walking the sidewalks, the loudest sounds are cheers from a birthday party at the park itself, a dog barking, or dishes rattling around while people make dinner. At least, until a BNSF railroad freight train rolls down the tracks that ride the border between Torrance and Redondo Beach.

More than three decades have passed since Jeff Spicoli uttered the iconic phrase in the cult classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”: “Surfing’s not a sport, it’s a way of life. It’s no hobby. It’s a way of looking at that wave and saying, ‘Hey bud, let’s party.’”

Now California appears to be taking that to heart as the state considers a bill that would make surfing the state sport.

A bill in the state legislature aims to make surfing the official sport of the state of California.

AB 1782 has already passed out of the state Assembly. Next stop: the state Senate.

Lots of things officially represent California. We have a state mineral — yep, gold! We have a state fabric — denim, of course. We have a state fossil — no, not Gov. Jerry Brown — it’s the saber-toothed cat.

Now lawmakers in the state that gave us the wetsuit, Gidget and the Beach Boys are well on their way to proclaiming surfing California’s official sport. A bill to that effect passed overwhelmingly out of the state Assembly last month and is finding no resistance in the Senate.